If you are thinking about starting a business in a city, then it is important to find out the needs of the people who live there so that you can ensure that your business fulfills a need. One way to do this is by looking at how these people spend their money.

A study recently published in the New York Times outlines how people spend their money in cities across the nation, including Miami. This study gives us a general overview of how people in Miami spend their money compared to other U.S. cities

The findings were that Miami spends more than the national average on:

1. New Cars
2. Coffee
3. Housekeeping
4. Parking Spaces
5. Car leases

Miami spend significantly less than the national average on:

1. Education (but above average in giving away their money to schools)
2. Personal Computers
3. Social and health clubs
4. Prescription drugs

On average, the study found that people in Miami spend less on status goods then people who live in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles or San Diego.

Some strange findings:

San Diego spends 3.5 times the national average on nonalcoholic beer

San Francisco spends 3.5 times the national average on alimony

Boston spends 7.5 times the national average on rental of campers for out-of-town trips

Boston spends 2.7 times the national average on dried peas

Additional Source: South Florida Business Journal